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The Historic Korean Peace Declaration Was Made Possible By Social Movements, Not Trump

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"It's a new day, and we're building the movement."

President Donald Trump—who has previously threatened the entire Korean peninsula with nuclear annihilation—now appears to be claiming credit for a historic step towards military de-escalation taken April 27 by North and South Korean heads of state. Following a joint peace declarationby North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, Trump was met at an April 28 rally in Michigan with chants of “Nobel! Nobel!” He replied to the crowd: “That’s very nice, thank you… I just want to get the job done.”

According to peace activist Christine Ahn, the “job” of pushing leaders to move towards formally ending the Korean War was, in fact, accomplished by dogged Korean anti-war activists who helped oust former South Korean President Park Geun-hye in 2017 and gave Moon Jae-in a mandate for peace. Ahn says that it was these movements, supported by international activists, that forced the North and South Korean leaders to release a statement that declares the “new era of peace” will include steps towards family reunification, denuclearization and cessation of all hostile acts.

Ahn is in a position to know. The South Korea-born, Hawaii-based peace activist has been organizing to end the Korean war under the administrations of Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush. She founded and coordinates Women Cross DMZ, which describes itself as “a global movement of women mobilizing to end the Korean War, reunite families, and ensure women’s leadership in peace building.”

The 1950-1953 Korean War left up to three-million Koreans dead, wounded or missing, thanks in part to a vicious bombing campaign perpetrated by the United States. While a 1953 agreement put an armistice in place, the war has still not been formally ended. The recent peace declaration is the most meaningful development to date to officially end the conflict.

Ahn tells In These Times about the significance of Friday’s summit, the peace movements that made the announcement possible and how people in the United States can show solidarity—in contrast to their president.

Sarah Lazare: You have been organizing for years—under Donald Trump as well as Barack Obama—for the world to support a formal end to the Korean War. What is your response to Friday’s summit?

Christine Ahn: It was a watershed moment for Korea. It was extraordinary to see the two leaders take hands, smile at each other and express genuine heartfelt desire for peace between the two Koreas and on the Korean Peninsula. This was backed up by a really impressive joint declaration. They pledge that the conflict between North and South Korea has ended, and they have committed to beginning the process of reunification. Korea and the Korean people are at the center of the process. It was really a beautiful statement.

The first section outlines various steps they want to take to begin that process. This includes family reunions—the first will be held August 15, the anniversary of Korean liberation from Japanese occupation. They will begin civil society exchanges in June. They're going to have an embassy on the North Korean side that has representatives from both North and South Korea to make sure there is a smooth transition.

The second section is about reducing military tensions. Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in committed to stopping loudspeakers at the border that emit propaganda. They said they would work to transform the DMZ, the heavily militarized borderland between North and South Korea that has 1.2 million landmines, into a peace park. They said they would transform the western sea border, the sight of many skirmishes, into a maritime peace zone.

The third section is about transforming the armistice agreement into a peace agreement—and trying to get the United States and China to sign a peace agreement. I think this summit is going to be the greatest deterrent against conflict on the Korean Peninsula. It also includes the commitment to denuclearization: a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

Sarah: Who do you think deserves credit for this agreement? How did this come to be?

Christine: The two Koreas must be credited. The real game-changing moment was the fact that the peace movement overthrew President Park Geun-hye and it led to Candlelight Revolution and ushered in President Moon Jae-in who comes from this movement for democracy and human rights. He is reflecting a mandate from the people of South Korea. He has a popularity rate of 75 to 80 percent, and the clear majority of South Koreans want peace. He’s really reflecting the will of the Korean people.

The outcome is because the people rose up. I also credit international solidarity, including the work of my organization for being a part of this. If you’d seen the shit I’ve had to go through: being red baited, targeted by a government-led smear campaign against me and Women Cross DMZ. There being a press conference in 2016 where a curious white American lawyer alleged that the peace walk was the work of the North Korean government. We had to go through all of that, but it was the courage of international women who pushed through the message of needing to end the Korean War with a peace treaty at a time of really low inter-Korean relations and a repressed South Korean peace movement under the last 10 years of darkness.

Sarah: After threatening the Korean Peninsula with nuclear attacks, Trump now appears to be taking partial credit for the peace breakthrough. And Moon Jae-in, who has been known to flatter Trump, suggested to his aides on Monday that the U.S. president deserves the Nobel Peace prize, reportedly stating: “The only thing we need is peace.” What do you make of this?

Christine: Moon Jae-in telling Trump that he should get the Nobel peace prize and the Koreans will have peace says everything about how gracious of a leader he is. If this is what will get Trump to push through his detractors, so let it be! Koreans have their eyes on the bigger prize: the end of the war and the start of a new beginning for the people.

Sarah: How can people in the United States and around the world show solidarity with Korean peace movements right now?

Christine:I felt responsibility as a U.S. citizen knowing the United States is the largest perpetrator in the war and has responsibility to bring closure. [Editor’s note: The U.S. military devastated North Korea during the Korean War. According to military historian Conrad Crane, the U.S. military “at least half obliterated” 18 of North Korea’s 22 major cities.]

Our responsibility as a U.S. peace movement is to support the inter-Korean peace process and to call on our governments, especially those that participate in the Korean war. At least 20 countries—including Canada, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands—participated in the Korean War. Those countries have a responsibility to help bring formal closure.

It's a new day, and we're building the movement. That's why in May we're partnering with the Nobel Women's Initiative to build this movement and increase mobilization of women across the world to end this war. This was an international conflict, not just a civil war. We are seeing the beginning of a new kind of transnational feminist solidarity.

If I was hearing the insane rants of a nation-bully threatening to bring WW-3 to my area, I too would be highly motivated to do all that I could do to prevent such a fate. You see, bullies can only threaten others to get their way; not having any concept of diplomacy on any level. Brute force is all they know: It is primate territorialism via men in suits with way-too-much money and power.

Posted by Monk of YHVH on 2018-05-07 13:46:37

By threatening NK he threatened the 10 million Seoul population with retaliatory annihilation, well as possibly Japan.

Posted by novychelovek on 2018-05-06 23:34:19

You're right there, he didn't threaten to nuke the South, although the North would have done that instantly if they saw US missiles coming. But President Moon knows how to get Trump to follow along. With this guy, flattery will get you everywhere.

Posted by acme on 2018-05-06 22:57:22

Horse pucky. Trump's "policies" change every day about the time Fox and Friends is on.

Posted by acme on 2018-05-06 22:53:13

So that's how you make peace between two historic enemies- offer to nuke one of them! The insanity ploy. Moon and Kim: "we'd better do something fast or this nut will start WW3".

Posted by acme on 2018-05-06 22:52:41

The whole thing reminds me of when Reagan took credit for "ending the Cold War" when the USSR finally collapsed, which it had teetered on for decades. Moon's suggestion of a Nobel prize for Trump just means he knows what it takes to keep Trump from queering the deal.

Posted by acme on 2018-05-06 22:47:25

And another thing i do not remember trump formally "threatened the entire Korean peninsula with nuclear annihilation" He did give warning to the north but he never said anything about bombing the south.

Also the South Korean President credited Trump for the accomplishment.

Posted by Crazy Russian on 2018-05-03 14:24:04

Those movements could of went on for another 20 years and nothing would change, but with trumps policies north Korea was forced to comply and begin to denuclearize as well as establishing a formal peace treaty.

Posted by Crazy Russian on 2018-05-03 14:19:30

Meh, those social movements are not new. What's new is Trump's approach to foreign policy. So when we see a new result like the advance toward reconciliation and peace between North and South Korea, it makes most sense to attribute that new result to something new like Trump's foreign policy, not something that has always been around, like the peace movements in South Korea. I'm just being logical rather than ideological.

Posted by Muktadir Rahman on 2018-05-02 13:46:42

TRUTH.....Reality - what the people want to ignore...The Korean WAR was based on LIES. If you were interested - you could look it up and learn all about it. You would learn how George W. Bush gave them humanitarian aid to feed the people instead they developed nuclear weapons to PROTECT THEMSELVES...WHY - Viet Nam ?.? French Indo-China...and the lies of teaching them PEACE that they never knew anything about.. always at war.......BUT IT'S EASIER TO LISTEN TO THE LIES AND GO ALONG WITH THE PROGRAM....and why do we have troops in AFRICA??ARE YOU SAFER TODAY (weren't you educated to think?) TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK CITY......Oh, Gee, WHY?? Oh they HATE US - and you said nothing - TO GET AHEAD JUST GO ALONG WITH THE PROGRAM...S T U P I D I T Y and whose actually the TRAITOR??Washington is going to save the world - world's largest military budget - - gun-boat diplomacy MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY . . 9-11 false flag - inside job....<> REMEMBER TO VOTE... perpetual politicians need your vote for the perpetual WAR......death and destruction - concentration camps like NAZI GERMANY - - named Guantanamo